Our media can’t seem to figure it out (or refuses to do so) but the leadership in al Qaeda certainly has. When you strap up and head out to kill a bunch of infidels in the cause of jihad, make sure you hit the correct targets so people can’t misinterpret your intentions. In their magazine Inspire, al Qaeda is warning aspiring terrorists to avoid murdering people who fit into demographic categories which could leave their actions open to interpretation as domestic hate crimes rather than Islamic terrorism. And that means making sure that the selected targets are white and heterosexual. (Fox News)

In an article first reported by The Foreign Desk, Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) called for more self-directed Muslim terrorists to kill in America. But the article, titled “Inspire guide: Orlando operation,” tells terrorists to “avoid targeting places and crowds where minorities are generally found” because if gays or Latinos appear to be the targets, “the federal government will be the one taking full responsibility.”

[…]

Although Al Qaeda does not take credit for Mateen’s attack in the online article, it urges more “lone wolves” to take up arms. Jihadists should target “areas where the Anglo-Saxon community is generally concentrated,” it states. “This class of the American community is the majority and it is the one that is in the American leadership.”

Al Qaeda is “very carefully threading a needle” by endorsing the attack while criticizing Mateen’s target selection, said Ryan Mauro, national security analyst for Clarion Project, a Washington-based nonprofit that tracks the international terror threat.

The fact that al Qaeda is treating ISIS as a bunch of rank amateurs who are bungling the jihad is telling, in that it shows there is still come unrest among the ranks. But more to the point, this missive should settle once and for all the question of whether or not the enemy watches American media and the posturing of the government and is able to respond accordingly. The news has been filled with reports of how the White House and the Attorney General have gone to great lengths to minimize any connection between the Orlando attack and Islamic terrorism, choosing instead to use the tragedy to score political points about gun control and domestic intolerance.

That’s bad for business if you’re a terrorist because the “credit” for the attack is diminished and your goal of inspiring terror is damaged when the blame is assigned elsewhere. But unfortunately for both ISIS and al Qaeda, that’s precisely what the Democrats have been doing with shocking effectiveness, shifting the conversation rapidly away from the fact that we suffered a horrendous terrorist attack in the interest of boosting Hillary Clinton’s electoral hopes. The sad part of this is that the terrorists are able to publish their own monthly magazine to their followers around the world and they make no bones about their ambitions.

“We stand by and support all Muslims who attack America in their homeland regardless of their affiliation to any group or loyalty,” the guide states, though adding that Mateen could have killed even more if he had used bombs in addition to the guns he carried:

This is the mentality of the enemy we are facing. Their sole objective is to kill as many of us as possible and to weaken our influence in their part of the world so they can establish a lasting caliphate. It’s a tragedy that we are saddled with leaders who would prefer not to discuss such distasteful subjects when it conflicts with their party platform.